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Jewish
History
Persian Jews have lived in the region of Iran since the first Jewish diaspora of 722 BCE , when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V conquered the Kingdom of Israel and sent the Israelites (the Ten Lost Tribes) into captivity at Khorasan. During the peak of the Persian Empire, Jews are thought to have comprised as much as 20% of the population.
Borujerd, one of the historical Jewish communities of Iran, once had a population of several thousand and maintained a Jewish bathhouse, butcher, and cemetery.
Many recent photos of the synagogue, Jewish neigborhood, and Jewish cemetery are available on the 7Dorim website (machine translated from Persian).
In 2015, the Jewish population was no longer able to support a minyan and the only remaining synagogue in Borujerd closed down.
| Time Period | Region |
| 1501 - 1736 | Safavid Empire |
| 1736 - 1750 | Afsharid dynasty |
| 1750 - 1794 | Zandiyeh dynasty |
| 1794 - 1925 | Qajar dynasty |
| 1925 - 1979 | Pahlavi dynasty |
| 1979 - Present | Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Year | Jewish Population | Total Population |
| 1972 | ~ 550 [1] | |
| 2015 | 5 [2] |
References
[1] Yarshater, Ehsan. "The dialect of Borujerd Jews." Archaeologia Iranica et Orientalis II: Miscellanea in Honorem Louis Vanden Berghe. Eds. Louis vanden Berghe, Leon de Meyer, and E. Haerinck. Gent: Peeters Presse, 1989. 1029-1046.
[2] Avraham, Rachel. "Last synagogue in Iranian city of Borujerd closed down." Jerusalem Online. 17 Sep 2015.
[3] 7Dorim.com